4. Yielding supplies of any kind; serving to form or make up, a greater
object of the same kind, as a part, branch, etc.; contributing; as, the
Ohio has many tributary streams, and is itself tributary to the
Mississippi.
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Trib"u*ta*ry (?), n.; pl. Tributaries (&?;). 1. A ruler or state that
pays tribute, or a stated sum, to a conquering power, for the purpose
of securing peace and protection, or as an acknowledgment of
submission, or for the purchase of security.
2. A stream or river flowing into a larger river or into a lake; an
affluent.
Trib"ute (?), n. [OE. tribut, L. tributum, fr. tribuere, tributum, to
bestow, grant, pay, allot, assign, originally, to a tribe, from tribus
tribe; cf. F. tribut. See Tribe, and cf. Attribute, Contribute.] 1. An
annual or stated sum of money or other valuable thing, paid by one
ruler or nation to another, either as an acknowledgment of submission,
or as the price of peace and protection, or by virtue of some treaty;
as, the Romans made their conquered countries pay tribute.
Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute.